BMI View: Japan will remain one of the three largest renewables market in the Asia region over our 10-year forecast period, despite our projection that growth rates will slow over the coming years. Difficultiesintegrating solar projects into the electricity system and the government's focus on nuclear power underpinour view that the market will undergo a slowdown.

Latest Updates & Structural Trends:

In December 2015, Canadian Solar secured a JPY12bn credit line facility from Deutsche Bank to buildits Kumamoto Mashiki 48MW solar plant in Japan. The firm expects the facility to start operations in2017.

Japanese firms SB Energy and Mitsui & Co commissioned a 111MW solar PV park in Iburi subprefectureon the northern island of Hokkaido on December 1. The project received funding from 12domestic financial institutions, including Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

Solar module shipments in Japan fell by 13% in the three months to end-June 2015, which represents thefirst y-o-y decline of shipments since the October to December 2012 timeframe.